Mississippi to Madrid: Memoir of a Black American in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

by James Yates

From his birth to a share cropper family in the cotton fields of Mississippi to the unrest in Chicago and New York during the depression, James Yates's experience with labor protest and union organizing shaped his vision of freedom and led to his decision to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Approximately 100 Blacks were among the 3,200 volunteers from the US that formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the first non-Jim Crow military organization in US history. Yates describes Oliver Law, the first Black commander of a US military unit; Paul Robeson; Langston Hughes, who Yates drove to the front; and nurse Salaria Key O'Reilly. Yates makes cogent connections between fascism and racism. James Yates returned to the US after having been wounded in the Spanish Civil War. He will be remembered for his active role in the struggle for freedom. James Yates died in January, 1994. The Jimmy Yates Award is presented annually to a short story writer by the Molasses Pond Writers Workshop in Franklin, Maine.

Genres: Spain, History, Spanish Civil War, Memoir, African American, Nonfiction

183 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1988

Reviews

[Leerautorasmola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! Sin duda alguna.
❤️

[Deja's Future Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡No pasarán! ❤ I happened upon this book in the gift shop of the international civil rights museum in greensboro, nc. I was low on time, and it was the same price as admission to the museum so I’m glad I decided to go with the book!! Yates’ humility is refreshing and his life is simply an adventure. I don't know what I'd say the tone of it is... a mix of straightforward, intrepid, playful. What I liked is it's never dreadfully pensive, beyond the beautiful ways he makes it accountable to those who've passed, from his life or the battlefield, and to his community of veterans. Yates didn't make his story overtly or clean-cut literary, but again I loved that, because even then it still feels like a purpose shines through: the past shouldn't weigh us down, but only propel us forward. It's not overtly political, as in it isn't trying convince anyone of anything, but it is political in the sense of yates making clear-as-day observations and insights from his labor organizing and experience of state-sanctioned terrorism under Jim Crow. I imagine it's very different from other accounts, for example Harry Haywood's Black Bolshevik or Langston Hughes' “Postcard from Spain” and “Letter from Spain."

The book is full of vignettes that are gems: my favorite is when he says he felt more scared in the woods of mississippi than he did crossing illegally into spain over the steep ridges of the pyrenees at the mercy of snipers. I am wondering if Toni Morrison might have turned this into a novel and inserted into her existing trilogy for Black life. Mainly because I feel that we deserve to know this story, to move with it as common revered foundation of the Black (radical) past.

[danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating, quick memoir about a Black Mississippian who moves north, gets involved in labor politics during the depression, and eventually joins the Abraham Lincoln brigade fighting fascism in the Spanish Civil War. Throughout the book, Yates' writing is direct and spare - almost tantalizingly so, as I could take another few chapters about his time in radical New York circles in the 30s, running into Paul Robeson and the like - but always compelling.

This book should absolutely be read alongside the more canonical Spanish Civil War fare - I'm thinking For Whom the Bell Tolls and Homage to Catalonia. Like Orwell, Yates conveys the electric (if ultimately fleeting) possibility of a multi-national, multi-racial leftist coalition and society. I feel like a lot has been written about the experience of Black soldiers returning from WWII to the same white supremacist country and experiencing violence meant to reconstitute the American racial order. That same dynamic is even more acute and infuriating for Yates, who did not experience the acute racism that existed in the US military at the time, but rather the camaraderie and potential of the International Brigades.

Similarly, though restrained, Yates conveys the romanticism of the struggle in Spain (and of Spain itself) as well as the desperate condition of the Republican cause in a manner similar to Hemingway in For Whom the Bell Tolls. But whereas much of Hemingway's romanticism is often purely aesthetic and occasionally war-porny, Yates's writing provides the historical and political context that made the struggle in Spain so meaningful. Indeed, much more of the book is spent setting the stage and describing Yates' political/economic trajectory than it is in the trenches, whereas For Whom the Bell Tolls is essentially set in media res, stripped of much of the context for why the war is being waged in the first place.

Ultimately, of course, Yates's memoir is amazing not because it can be compared to these other works but because it is his own remarkable story, told in a straightforward yet detail-rich manner. There are major areas I wish he'd explored more - his relationship to his wife/family just falls out completely as soon as he leaves Chicago (to the extent it was there at all), his earliest entry into union organizing is somewhat glossed over, and his later involvement with the NAACP in New York is only teased. But at the same time, it's okay that the book is 200 pages and not 600, because Yates often does in one sentence what other writers would require three for. And hopefully its length makes it more accessible to the curious, because this should be read widely!

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for school, but I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read a memoir about the Spanish Civil War (of which I knew pretty much nothing when I started this book). If you are looking for a timeline about the Spanish Civil War, this is not the right book, however, it is a great read for those who want to know more about the experiences of some of the people lived during the 1930s and who volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scope of this book more than makes up for its slightly plain writing style. It's amazing how much context the book provides simply from recounting the life of one man. It's tempting to think of The Great Depression, The Russian Revolution, or The Spanish Civil War as events that don't take place within the greater context of history or in a global context but it's important to remember that there are people who wove these events together through their involvement.
It's enough to make one feel a little better about all the historical events one has lived through, and maybe been overwhelmed by.
All of this to say nothing about how much this book does to illustrate that a black framing of history is a radical reframing indeed.

[Ana Ballesteros · Rating 4 out of 5]

M’he emocionat molt endinsant-me en la vida de James Yates. Imprescindible per recuperar la memòria històrica de l’Estat Espanyol i per reconèixer la tasca d’un centenar d’afroamericans que van decidir jugar-se la vida per la llibertat i la República. Ara més que mai ens cal preservar i agrair aquestes històries.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and inspiring book. Full of struggle, idealism, disappointment, but hope. I highly recommend it.

[Anthony Mercando · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little shallow. His experiences were interesting to read, but he seemed to lack attachment to the struggle on the front. Granted he was a driver, it still seems strange that he never gained a stronger grasp of the slaughter going on miles away.

[Fence! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the memoir of James Yates, a black man born in Mississippi in 1906. Yates discusses his experiences in the United States and Spain, fighting with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

[Elana Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the beginning but got bored towards the middle and end